Everton are punching above their weight while Liverpool should be doing better, says Moyes

The Everton chief had seen his side lose 1-0 on Sunday to slip five points behind their local rivals in the battle for fourth spot in the Barclays Premier League.

But Moyes claimed: "I would expect Liverpool to finish higher than fourth. And I think it is incredible that we are still talking about Everton being in with a shout of (the) top four. Liverpool will see this season as a disappointment."

Moyes maintains his injury-ravaged side can catch Liverpool in fourth, and sees the weekend fixtures - Everton are at home to relegated Derby and Liverpool face Arsenal again - as the moment when the gap could be reduced to just two points again.

But the Scot concedes that Fernando Torres is key to Liverpool's system, saying: "Liverpool can get away with playing just one up front, because Torres does the job of two men for long spells.

"We lacked penetration, we needed to be more creative when we attacked. We tried to use Mikel Arteta and Leon Osman in different ways, we wanted them more central and as close to Yakubu as they could manage.

"And when we had the ball those two tried to make things happen, but we lacked any real penetration. We needed better movement, we needed to get down the sides and behind defenders. We were static and did not move their defenders around enough."

But he added: "It is great that Everton are involved in games that can see people qualifying for the Champions League. We have had a wonderful season and the boys are a great group of players.

"We don't lose very often, we don't concede too many goals and the real disappointment was that we did not create any chances."

Moyes also dismissed any notion that skipper Phil Neville's angry reaction after being substituted in the second half was any problem for the Everton boss.

Neville snatched at a tracksuit top and marched furiously away, but made sure that he shook hands with his manager as he went.

Moyes said: "Neville's withdrawal was tactical, he wasn't injured. He was just disappointed with the way the game had gone, and he showed it.

"I have no problem with that attitude. He was fine with me and just upset with the way the game had gone. I understand that, he shook my hand and I have no problem with him being upset about things."

Everton will await further tests this week on Anichebe, who was taken to hospital on Thursday after his return from playing for Nigeria in midweek.

Moyes added: "We think he has picked up something while he was away with Nigeria, and he is still having tests in hospital."